Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.

Hey, hey, hey! Happy Father’s Day!! I hope that you’re off spoiling your favorite guy and enjoying the weekend. Since it’s Sunday, I’m popping in with today’s weekly roundup of Our Week in Meals — and then I’ll be enjoying the day with family.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Our Week in Meals is where I share a little bit about what we’ve been up to over the past week — as it relates to our dinners each night. This series gives you a glimpse “behind the scenes” at some highlights from our life, shows you how I balance a busy schedule with feeding my family, and offers a few new ideas for your own weekly meal plan. Now let’s back up to last weekend…

I went out for a beautiful walk early on Sunday morning before the rest of the house was up. Scenes from my sunrise stroll…

I walked in the house to bickering children (ah…the joys of summer break????), so I quickly sent them outside and brought my coffee out on the porch to supervise.

Spence helped me pull the never-ending weeds in our garden before it got too hot, and then we had a quick lunch before heading out to the pool for the afternoon.

Keith had to leave for a week-long business trip on Sunday, so it was nice for me and the kids to meet up with friends.

Unfortunately, our swim was cut short when thunder storms rolled through.

The rain continued for the evening, so Gibbs’s soccer practice was also cancelled that night.

Since I thought that we would be rushing out to the fields, I had prepared our dinner in advance. These Cold Peanut Sesame Noodles are the perfect make-ahead summer meal (for lunch or for dinner) because they just get better as they chill!

Bowl of cold peanut sesame noodles

I stayed up WAY past my bedtime on Sunday because I was engrossed in my book and needed to finish it. After recently enjoying The Nightingale, I was excited to dive into Kristin Hannah’s latest book, The Great Alone. Another beautiful, heart wrenching story — with an ending that made me smile. Highly recommend this one!

Monday was a total washout with constant pouring rain.

Gibbs went to a local farm for camp, so I was left to entertain Casey and Spencer for the day.

I wanted to develop a new salmon recipe for my Simply Mailed subscribers, so we drove up to Culpeper to buy some fish at a “real” grocery store (we don’t have seafood at our local grocer in Madison).

By lunchtime, the boys were stir-crazy and in need of some exercise, so I took them to an indoor playground to run around. I was desperate to get them OUT!

They also dined on fried chicken and biscuits!

Dinner that night was a new Simply Mailed fish recipe — Parmesan Herb Crusted Salmon.

I also prepared a quick skillet of zucchini, corn, tomatoes, and onions on the side, along with dinner rolls.

Gibbs loved the fish and called it “luxury salmon” (thanks to the topping), while Casey and Spencer scraped off most of their topping and said that they prefer regular grilled salmon (like this). I thought the meal was a delicious change!

The sun came out again on Tuesday, so even though it was still a bit cool, we were all thrilled to get outside.

While Mary Kate stayed with the younger boys at home, I dropped Gibbs off at camp and met Mollie for a morning walk. Then I scooped up Casey and Spencer at home so that we could head out on our “adventure” for the day.

They requested a lunch date at Chili’s in Culpeper and a game of bowling afterwards.

I’m pretty sure that they love this restaurant just for the chips and salsa!

Caribbean Salad with Shrimp

Casey rolled a strike on his very first bowl, and then proceeded to score multiple additional strikes and spares throughout the round. Good thing that Spencer didn’t even realize there was a scoreboard!????

I had a couple of hours back at the house before we needed to leave again to pick up Gibbs, so I made a quick dinner in advance that I could easily put on the table when we returned. Gibbs had soccer practice at 6:00, which meant that it was a very rushed evening to get everyone home, fed, and back out the door.

Our meal was re-purposed leftovers from the night before. I took the leftover Parmesan-Crusted Salmon and mixed it with an egg, plain Greek yogurt (mayonnaise would also work), salt and pepper. I then formed the salmon mixture into 5 separate patties, which I fried on the griddle. Since the breadcrumbs and herbs were already on the salmon from the night before, these flavorful little cakes were ready in about 10 minutes.

When it was time to eat, I just reheated the patties, served them on hamburger buns for the boys, and had my “burger” on top of spinach.

I added the leftover sautĂ©ed corn, zucchini, tomatoes, and onions from Monday night’s dinner, as well as sliced avocado and this store-bought feta dill dressing. A perfect satisfying and easy weeknight dinner!

Wednesday morning started bright and early with Instagram Stories as I showed you how to prepare this 5-Ingredient Mexican Chicken in the slow cooker or Instant Pot. I was getting our dinner started early that day because I knew that we’d be gone from the house for an extended period.

Follow me on Instagram here if you enjoy these casual behind-the-scenes videos…

After dropping Gibbs off at camp on Wednesday morning, Casey and Spencer and I stopped at Grelen on our way home to pick blueberries.

What a beautiful way to spend the morning!

I’m so used to picking blueberries in the heat of summer while sweat runs down my back. Instead, we had a breezy, cool morning with plenty of sunshine.

The boys had a great time, and I appreciated that we were the only ones there. They could roam the fields (and leave me in peace!) without getting into any trouble.

It also helps that blueberry bushes are low and thorn-free, making them ideal for little 4-year-olds!

We stopped back at the house to drop off our haul and to change into our bathing suits, before heading back out again for a picnic lunch at the pool.

I’m obviously doing my best to keep these boys BUSY this summer. It’s the only way I’ll survive…

I used the slow cooked Mexican Chicken to prepare tacos for the boys that night, while I had the meat over a taco salad. With leftover chips and salsa from our Chili’s lunch the day before, everyone was happy!

I had a lot of work to get done on Thursday, so Mary Kate entertained the younger two boys all morning while I took Gibbs to camp, picked up a grocery order, and photographed a couple of recipes.

After lunch, Spence helped me use some of the blueberries that we picked on Wednesday in a batch of The Barefoot Contessa’s Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins.

These decadent treats got two thumbs up from the family! You can’t go wrong with all of that butter, sugar, flour, and fresh berries!

We’re planning to use the rest of the blueberries in a blueberry pie for Father’s Day on Sunday.

We also made a stop in town at the splash pad for some water fun on a beautiful afternoon, before picking Gibbs up at 4.

I treated myself to a caramel (decaf!) iced Americano while I sat in the shade and watched the boys play. It was perfect!

Dinner that evening was a dish that I had cooked (and photographed) earlier in the day. I reheated the Dump-and-Bake Chicken a la King and served it over biscuits. Recipe coming to the blog next month!

Friday included an early morning stop at the playground,

as well as a picnic by the pool in the afternoon.

Keith returned home from his trip, so we were all reunited for dinner that evening!

I made a new recipe for Dump-and-Bake Chinese Pepper Steak (on the blog soon), which I served over rice with some frozen egg rolls on the side. YUM!

Saturday started bright and early when I joined my friend Mollie for a walk in the woods. Our husbands needed to make hay and mow grass that day, so we had to get out and back home early enough to make the trade-off!

“Helping” Dad!

We spent the afternoon at the pool, and then came home to get ready for a night out.

I made the boys their favorite pesto wheels for dinner, Mary Kate came to babysit for the evening, and Keith and I headed down to Charlottesville for dinner with friends.

The Roasted Chicken Burrito Bowl at Mono Loco — rice, beans, pico de gallo, roasted chicken, and queso fresco with chipotle and avocado crema.

We finished the night with drinks at The Fitzroy, and enjoyed every minute of chatting outside on the downtown mall. The weather was beautiful and the company was fun!

And now I’m off for the day! We’re heading off to a family cookout with a homemade blueberry pie in tow. Have a happy Father’s Day, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow!

Need some help planning your family’s meals? When you join Simply Mailed, I will send you 3 quick-prep dinner recipes and a grocery shopping list each week (for about $1 per week!!!). This super-affordable service takes the stress out of dinner, saves you time and money, and brings your family together at the end of the day. There are even options for smaller households of just 1 or 2!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.

blair

Hey, I’m Blair!

Welcome to my farmhouse kitchen in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Inspired by local traditions and seasonal fare, you’ll find plenty of easy, comforting recipes that bring your family together around the table. It’s down-home, country-style cooking!

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Square overhead shot of hands serving a chicken pot pie recipe with biscuits
Overhead image of a bowl of chili mac on a dinner table with cornbread
Hands serving a platter of sheet pan sausage and potatoes

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  1. I always enjoy reading about your week! We tried your Egg Roll in a bowl tonight and it was yummy!
    Where do you get that beautiful coffee mug?